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The ongoing murder trial of a San Antonio man who shot a Craigslist escort on Christmas Eve following a dispute over sexual services was temporarily derailed Thursday due to a juror's family emergency.

State District Judge Mary Román instructed the group — along with defendant Ezekiel Gilbert, who's out on bond — to take the following week off but to return to court June 4. At that point, defense testimony is slated to begin.

Prosecutors, who have been presenting evidence since last Friday, rested their case shortly before Román announced the decision.

A juror reported she had a death in the family, and defense attorneys Bobby and Roy Barrera Sr. declined to push on with an 11-person panel.

Gilbert, 30, could face up to life in prison if the jury finds him guilty in the Dec. 24, 2009, slaying of Lenora Ivie Frago, 23, who was shot in the neck and paralyzed while her self-described “manager” drove them away from the defendant's apartment.

Frago's brother wept Thursday as he described to jurors the decision to take her off life support in July 2010. She was dependant on a respirator, which became disconnected months after the shooting and caused brain damage.

Neurologist Augusto Parra disagreed with suggestions from the defense that Frago's delayed death wasn't Gilbert's fault.

“When you are bedridden like her — with mechanical support, with tubes for feeding — these patients are prone ... to have complications,” Parra said. “She was in this situation because she was shot.”

Gilbert's attorneys have employed another unique defense, suggesting during opening statements last week that the shooting was justified because he was trying to retrieve stolen property — the $150 he had paid to spend a half-hour with Frago.

The business transaction became theft when Frago refused to have sex with him or issue a refund, they suggested.

In a police interview that was played for jurors Wednesday, Gilbert “never mentioned anything about theft,” homicide Detective Raymond Roberts said.